Keeping Tabs: 'CuteKid' winner from Olde Towne

Ava Park will celebrate her first birthday on May 30, and she's already working to fund her college education.

Her parents, Niki and John Park of the Olde Towne section of Portsmouth, submitted some of Ava's most fetching photos to  TheCuteKid.com, and she captivated the judges - professional talent and casting agents. She was chosen from 50,000 entries as the "CuteKid of The Month" for February.

Ava receives a $500 savings bond, a framed portrait with a CuteKid seal, a golden ticket to the final round of the 2008 CuteKid of the Year contest - with a chance at a $25,000 college tuition fund grand prize.

"That's the best part," said Niki Park, a Western Branch High graduate who is a program support technician for a government contractor and part-time photographer. John Park, a Churchland High grad, is a naval architect at Northrop Grumman Newport News.

TheCuteKid.com was started by two New York friends and business partners who became first-time fathers in 2004. The pair also created ParentSociety.com as an online parent community.

Celebrity Night benefits children 'Reel Life' cards poke fun at everyday horrors

The 26th annual Celebrity Night on April 3 saw dozens of well-known faces waiting tables and vying for tips at nine favorite eateries across Hampton Roads - all to benefit Prevent Child Abuse Hampton Roads.

The wait staff was perhaps the most diverse at Suffolk's Pisces restaurant where diners met the newest WAVY-TV10 anchorman Tom Schaad, mayoral candidates Linda Johnson and Tom Powell, TV horticulturist Dabney Morgan, a clerk of court, two city councilmen - and Elvis, locally known as Suffolk developer Ernie Hefferon.

Over at Il Giardino Ristorante in Virginia Beach, the TV personalities and city officials were outnumbered by tribute artists for Elvis, Patsy Cline, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond and Connie Francis.

Area-wide, sponsors hoped to raise $30,000. A preliminary tally totaled $26,000 with more monies coming in.

'Reel Life' greets from Va. Beach

Virginia Beach's Tracy Kunzler is a stay-at-home mom with a worldly wise sense of humor. Her new line of "Reel Life" greeting cards capture the thoughts that often flash to mind but are left unsaid.

The cards parody vintage horror movie posters to poke fun at everyday "horrors" - men who refuse to call professional repairman, overzealous e-mailers who forward every bogus warning and weary joke, childless parenting experts or the successful dieter: "The fiend bombards you with the fat content, carb value and calories of EVERY bite you take PLUS how many minutes of walking, dog sledding or water polo you'll need to do to burn it off."

The cards are sold in gift and specialty shops across the country and locally at The Lemon Cabana on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach.

Songwriter Festival features locals

Norfolk folk-pop singer/songwriter Julie Clark and Virginia Beach's singer/songwriter Skip Friel are two of the featured performers in the April 20 Sea Level Singer Songwriter Festival at the Granby Theater in Norfolk.

The festival, which also includes workshops, an exhibit and auction, will have works by 20 local artists, including Susan Werner, Trina Hamlin, MSG - the Acoustic Blues Trio and the Annie Johnson Band.

The event is sponsored by - and will benefit - Tidewater Arts Outreach, a nonprofit that brings music and arts to area hospitals, retirement homes, rehab centers and homeless shelters.

Last year, the program brought 142 programs and 130 artists to folks in 50 different facilities according to MaryAnn Toboz, a Chesapeake musician and the group's founder.

For more information go to www.sealevelsongfest.com.

GO FIGURE

265

Number of years ago that Virginia statesman Thomas Jefferson was born in Shadwell on April 13.

20,000

Miles of Virginia roads adopted by clean-up volunteers who were out in force in their orange vests Saturday during the annual statewide spring cleaning day. The 26th annual Celebrity Night on April 3 saw dozens of well-known faces waiting tables and vying for tips at nine favorite eateries across Hampton Roads - all to benefit Prevent Child Abuse Hampton Roads.